A single chip laser radar receiver with a 9×9 SPAD detector array and a 10-channel TDC

Abstract

A single chip receiver for pulsed laser time-of-flight rangefinding applications has been realized in a standard 0.35um HV CMOS technology. It includes a 9×9 SPAD array and a 10-channel time-to-digital converter with 10ps single shot precision. Any of the 3×3 sub-arrays can be selected for simultaneous measurement. The selected SPAD array can be gated to be operative only within a selected time window in order to suppress dark and background light induced counts. Functional tests in a laser radar environment indicate full functionality over a range of nearly 80 metres.